First-borns receive more help with home buying

Parents are more likely to help their first-born child onto the property ladder, according to research from Abbey.

Parents are more likely to help their first-born child onto the property ladder, according to research from Abbey.

The bank has published research, revealing that first-born children are given a helping hand when it comes to buying a property more often than their siblings.

The study showed that 17 per cent of first-borns received financial help when purchasing a home, while this figure fell to 12 per cent for second-born children and nine per cent for third-born siblings.

However, although first-borns are more likely to get some help, younger children receive more money if their parents help at all.

"Most parents tend to think they are very fair when it comes to financial gifts to their children, but whats fair in one circumstance may not be fair in another," commented Abbey's Nici Audhlam-Gardiner.

"In recent years, property price growth has been so strong that even a gap of two or three years can mean a big financial difference when it comes to raising a deposit, even if the children choose to live in similar areas.

"Now that house price growth is slowing, we may find that parents' gifts to siblings even out a bit," she continued.

Halifax recently revealed that house prices in County Armagh increased by 331 per cent in the ten years to 2007.